Italy
The Papal States
The Papal States is plural for a reason. This was not a unified state, not even in the very loose medieval sense of the word. Rather, this was a collection of independent powers—princes as well as cities—all owing some sort of allegiance to the papacy. In some the allegiance was real and acknowledged; in some, the allegiance was furiously disputed; and in most cases, it was a matter of how much independence they could get away with.
The Papal States extended south of Rome only a little distance before running into the Kingdom of Naples. They angled northeastward across the peninsula, ending at Bologna only a little way south of Venice. Among the principal territories were the cities of Viterbo, Bologna, Perugia and Ancona, along with the duchies of Spoleto and Ancona. The States were bordered by Tuscany and Naples, among others, and there were disputes along almost their entire length. The pope therefore had to contend with scores of local governments internally, and powerful rivals externally.